It declares that a moral obligation created between two parties arising form of a sale of goods or services may be legally enforced by the prevailing party against the losing party, and the effect of which is that it may be so enforced by the many different post judgment remedies.
While forgiveness of unpaid debts is a normal function of any downward business cycle, creditors need to determine whether there is value in reducing the debt to a judgment. That decision must be weighted in terms of what the economic future will bring for the debtor. Just because someone has nothing now, does not mean they never will own anything of value. Chasing unpaid monies is an exercise in patience, a little bit of cost, and vigilance on the part of your counsel. At this blip in the business cycle, people are not fighting nor resisting suits to reduce unpaid debts to a judgment. In some cases, after suit is filed, the debtor agrees to stipulate or agree to the judgment, usually under the belief that they will likely never have any meaningful assets to collect.
A judgment when entered in California earns 10% per annum, lasts for 10 years, and is renewable prior to expiration, in perpetuity every 10 years. This results in the doubling of the amount owed on the debt every 10 years. With a little patience, one can eventually recover the sums owed in the future. So reducing the sums owed to a judgment and either recording a lien, or monitoring the debtor's assets for future real estate purchases is productive. Of course, apart from judgment liens, there are other more active means to pursue collection of a judgment, but for the money and right debtor, a judgment lien is the most economical means to obtain eventual payment.
